To Meet and Trust Later
by hidden stranger
Summary: Sincato has taken up permanent residence in the Valley of Peace. In his trip to repay his mentor Po, he is introduced to a student he's never seen before but soon finds himself in a lethal situation, can he trust this one to have his back? Review plz


A/N, Hey there everyone reading this. This short story will feature a character named Jo from Jo Po Novark, with his permission and free reign to inspire me, I've decided it was time to see how I can do with using an OC I've never written of before. Wish me luck I don't mess this up too much haha!

For those unfamiliar with the characters, I encourage you to read both Newcomer to the Valley and Jo Po Novark's The Next Dragon Warrior, just so that you can get a better feel for each of the OC characters presented.

* * *

A fire was burning several pounds of white hot coals as sturdy metal clanging was sounded through the backroom of the workshop. Sparks leaped joyfully and danced free in the air as steel was introduced into the flames and stoked by a large fan to increase the heat upon the metal as it was worked through the intense heat. Withdrawing the piece held by a thick glove, the other paw raised a hammer and brought it down with a judged amount of force, each strike setting a certain style into the large chunk of metal before being thrust back into the fire. Taking steady breaths and wiping his brow, the creator studied his work in progress, bringing several tools over next to his anvil. Sweat dripped from his forehead as he compelled himself to withstand the heat until the job was finished. Bringing the steel out of the fire, he placed it into a vice and then clamped a bar upon it to form a twist in the handle. Pulling carefully and repeatedly going and reheating the metal, the blacksmith soon grinned as he looked upon his newest design.

The Dragon Warrior would be so very pleased when he was done.

With excitement gleaming through green eyes the raccoon stuck the steel back into the raging fire. Several hours went by as the coals began to die out, the fireplace no longer necessary for his project, the blacksmith now sat at a workbench with a hammer, and a bead locking tool, finish work was always the most tedious for him, each delicate motion forced him to take his time and be extra careful. Sitting back from his work, he looked over at the window,

hmm, The last place the sun had been since he'd seen it, was now over to the-

"Oh crap!"

He was late to pick up Hu from the school. "Urrgh!" He groaned as he set down his tools, forced to leave the gift for his mentor for another day due to his promise to Hu's mother that he would pick her up from the class after wards,

Which meant enduring those god awful stairs!

With a sigh of defeat he slide off his stool and grabbed his robe from the counter as he rushed out the door, checking to make sure his door locked behind him as he left. It didn't take more then five minutes to reach the stairs, the hard part was ascending said steps. After what felt like days on end, the raccoon reached the summit of the mountain, the jade palace, it had been quite a while since he had been here. Looking around as he walked through the arena toward the palace, he noticed most of the children were already gone only a few rabbits and geese remained behind, gathered next to what could only be known as the dragon warrior. Sincato felt a smile begin to emerge as he came closer to the group, Hu turned her head to see the black robed ring tail standing several feet away from them. She gave a small pout to Dragon Warrior Po who in turned grinned and patted her head and sent her off while giving a wave to Sincato whom replied with a bow. Scooping up Hu, he turned and left the arena, heading back to the stairs with the rabbit child.

"So how was you're session today?" Hu looked up and frowned a bit.

"Well fine I guess, just...I dunno, could have been better." She said, her ears flopping forward a bit, hiding her eyes from him as they walked down. Sincato tilted his head to the left a bit, curious as to what had brought the ever joyful and energetic bunny down. "Well what was keeping it from being as good a day as others?", he heard her sigh and groan, "I can't do the swinging leg kick we were learning today in class." She said disappointed in herself for her failure, wishing she could have greeted her new found brother with news of advancement and praise from the masters on her part. Sincato gave a small outlet of breath before patting her back, "aye don't let this bother you, you don't think even the masters have a rough day or two, I'm sure Master Po would gladly tell you of his own bumps in the road, but that's all it is really, a small bump in the road." He said as he tried to re inspire her confidence as they proceeded back to the house, Hu stopping to a moment to retie her foot binds. She looked up at him, her light depression fading as he smiled down at her, she gave a small grin back, "Okay well if you're so sure about me doing so well then Im sure you'll be fine with giving me a shoulder ride home!" She said gleefully, the raccoon's face dropping instantly, "urgh you drive a hard bargain but fine!" He hoisted her above and onto his shoulders facing his direction as he carried her home. Outside the home, the mother looked up to see two familiar faces approaching in the east toward her, getting up, the bunny dusted herself off and smiled as she watched the raccoon flip the small rabbit forward and catch her, setting her down before her mother. Hu ran up and hugged her mother before waving to the raccoon and then running inside, the older rabbit smiled and gave her thank you to him. He merely smiled before bowing and turning to head back to his workshop. He sighed to himself as he walked back, opening the door and closing it behind himself to go back to work. Before he could set back into it though, the raccoon pulled up a stool and sat for a second, merely looking about his workshop and hearing the sound of his own breath.

It had been a similar routine for several months now, he worked in his shop during the day taking various requests from people in the village. He would then pick up Hu in the Jade Palace after her sessions were over and walk her back home to her two parents who would always giving him sincere thanks for his help. The raccoon scrunched his face in tightly before running his paws down his face, feeling the fingers massage his facial muscles and fur. He couldn't help but feel,

tired.

He was honestly tired from being alive, as ridiculous as it may have sounded, every night he went to sleep, all that pounded through his head was the fact his son and wife were beyond the night stars, staring down upon him. Yet he, was stuck upon earth, to...

Live and protect, the Shim family needed him yes all that very true but he had to ponder just how fair was it that after finally dying, reaching his family, he was tossed back onto this planet? Growling slightly at letting himself get into that mindset again he hopped off the chair and took a small walk through his shop. With the Dragon Warrior's help he'd acquired this building of decent size, three separate rooms including the front entryway for customers. Sincato cleared his throat and instinctively picked up a tool within his reach, a hammer and began merely pacing through the room until he could slip out of his thoughts he knew better then to allow. As the raccoon walked toward the backroom, dragging the hammer along the tables that lined the walls of the rooms around him, he shook his head to reconnect with his project. He couldn't let a gift of this stature given to him be demonized, it would be an insult to all who'd been taken before their time. After stoking the fire once more, the masked mammal went to work on his final necessary touches to the dragon warrior's gift.

* * *

The very next day, awake early enough to wrap his gifts for his mentor, the raccoon did his best to keep from losing patience with the ribbons he used to hold everything together.

"Stupid little, why can't you just-" He groaned to himself as he struggled with the remaining bits of decoration to stay in place, finally using a sea clamp to hold the knot in place as he retied the string above it. Taking a step back he grinned slightly to himself,

"aah finished!" Picking up the package in one arm, the black robed ring tail headed out to the Jade Palace.

It was still too early for the children sessions to have begun for the day, this gave him a chance to deliver his present in secrecy, he only wanted to be with the dragon warrior when it was presented. After huffing and puffing his way to the final stair, the raccoon took a deep breath to compose himself before entering the jade palace. With a loud creak the doors sounded as he crossed through the arena and headed for the training hall. The five would no doubt already be in their daily practices, if he absolutely had to, he could leave the present with Shifu with instructions to give it to Po later. He opened the doors to seek out the dragon warrior when he came upon a sight unexpected to him. The five stood along the front of the hall alongside the panda, watching someone Sincato hadn't seen before standing poised atop of the swirling dragons. He became fixed upon the new creature that leaped and dodged each swinging club as he traversed over each rotating dragon. Within several moments, the boy jumped from the last of the dragons and hopped off to the side of the hall, the five and Po approaching quickly, Shifu in front of everyone. Shifu looked to Sincato who stood silently, watching everyone, soon feeling all the pairs of eyes upon him.

"Sincato, what is the meaning your visit?" The red panda asked in a came tone, seeming to only want a mere explanation to the raccoon's visit to the palace. The blacksmith's eyes soon locked on the badger standing beside Po, who stared right back, a curious yet nearly protective look in his eyes.

"I..ahem I merely arrived to meet with the dragon warrior, I did not mean to interrupt you're progress." He said in a hasty breath toward the badger, whom waved a paw lightly to indicate no harm done. Sincato cleared his throat, "Ahem, Don't let me hold you up, I will wait in the hall of warriors until you are ready, thank you." He took no time in quickly turning and making his exit. The badger turned and looked up at the dragon warrior,

"Um, who was that just now?" Po watched as the raccoon opened and closed the large door to the hall behind him as he left.

"Someone I haven't seen for a while buddy. After we finish here I can fill you in." The badger nodded and master Shifu awaited him to enter the next part of the course, Crane taking his position upon the other side of the jade turtle. Bringing a wing to his beak, he called out,

"You ready Jo." The badger nodded and bowed as he got into place on the opposite end of the bowl.

Shifu snapped his knuckles and the performance began.

* * *

Po led Jo out of the hall, trying to explain Sincato's history as they left. The badger listened closely as the panda went into detail after detail about the raccoon and the panda's journey together. One particular part of the story forced him to stop his mentor in his tracks,

"Wait a minute-he was...possessed?" The bear nodded, "Was, by nothing awesome either, Oogway in a meditative dream even told me not to visit the spirit that controlled him, but I had to, still regret that part. It was nothing I wanted to see in the end." The bear gave a shudder as he recalled the discovery he'd made that day. Jo narrowed his eyes in thought as he processed all this. "And he's killed right?" Po nodded once more, prompting the badger to inquire a bit more.

"How many?" Po bit his lip slightly and looked down,

"From what he's told me and what I saw him ...fifteen? Maybe?" Jo shuddered slightly, the idea of having something forcing you to murder with no control over it's desire for bloodshed seemed horrifying honestly. They continued down toward the hall of the warriors, Po stopping at the door, one paw resting upon it, he turned to Jo. "Though it sounds bad, Sin's a good guy, he's taken up looking after the family of one of the children students here, don't judge him on what I've told you about him." Jo shook his head,

"If you are comfortable with him then so am I." He said reassuringly, the panda smiled and pushed the door open, revealing the raccoon standing with his back to them, staring at the sword of heroes. Po led the way inside, Jo following a step behind, his vision focused on the newcomer.

Sincato turned and looked at the dragon warrior. He smiled and bowed, "Dragon Warrior, it's been far too long." He said. Po returned the gesture,"Agreed, Sincato, this is Jo, Jo, this is my friend Sincato." Jo watched carefully as the raccoon stepped forward extending a paw, the badger approached his eyes fixed on the ringtail's as he took his paw and shook. The raccoon gave a tiny smile before turning around and picking up a box covered in wrappings. The raccoon turned back to Po holding a box wrapped in his paws. "I've come to deliver you a present I've been meaning to get to you for quite some time now, here you are." He handed the box up to the panda before him. Po took it with great interest, gently unraveling the ribbon and tearing the paper off, he opened the box and gasped. The badger watched as Po removed two very detailed, silver knives from the box, the handles a twisting black and silver with small silver panda heads on the bottoms of each knife, holding them in his paws in awe. The raccoon spoke up, "Just something I wanted to put together for you after...well all we've been through." The bear finally took his eyes off the weapons to meet the raccoon's.

"Sincato, they're beautiful." The raccoon smiled, "I thought you deserved to have something personalized to go with you're training, if you were still wanting me to teach you what I know?" The panda's eyes widened, a big grin coming over him, Jo could already feel the excitement radiating off of his mentor, he wasn't exactly sure what lesson was going to be taught by the masked one before him, but he knew it involved blades. The Dragon Warrior grinned widely and clapped," Just what I was waiting for! Let's go!" Po scooped up the box and led the way back into the training hall followed by Sincato who was followed by Jo.

He couldn't place exactly where it was coming from, but something about this all didn't seem to sit well with the young badger, knowing very little of this character whom his mentor had deemed as revived from possession and all, it felt somewhat dangerous.

_Heh dangerous, understatement_

"Shut up brain." he muttered as he entered the hall once more for the day with the raccoon and the panda.

Sincato walked in front of the the two and undid the buttons on his robe and the sliver belt that keep it closed, letting the black fabric drop open, revealing six knives in a chest vest underneath. The raccoon withdrew one of the blades, Jo watching carefully as the ringtail ran a finger down the edge of the blade, feeling it's bite. He turned and looked up at Po, attempting to appear instructive, Sincato began explaining.

"So the first thing you want to do or at least I do is find a knife with the proper weight and shape for you. These I made myself, for myself because well-*he took hold of one of Po's paws to demonstrate* We've all got different sized hands." Letting Po's hand drop back, Sincato cleared his throat and went on, "The next thing to look for is what style you can use most effectively." Turning his back to them, the raccoon took a breath and flipped the knife so the blade faced him before raising his arm and throwing the weapon solidly. A barely audible whistle sounded as the weapon rushed forward and dug deeply into the support beam of the training hall twenty feet away. Without a word, the raccoon went up and pulled the blade free, sheathing it once more, he faced them again. "Breathing is important in knife throwing as I'm sure you've heard in other aspects of combat, same principle, control, focusing on the target clearly and keeping from straying either direction. Um..who wants to try first?" While managing great self control Po turned to the young badger by his side, motioning with a paw to try.

Jo took a breath and blew it out slowly, he'd become more then fluent with Shurikans, knives however were tossed in a different manner. He walked up to Sincato, the raccoon's green eyes looking down at his own, slowly dragging a blade out of his vest, he handed the knife to him handle first. Jo stepped several feet away from both of them and stared for a moment, deciding where to attack. His eyes came upon the support pole, a perfectly straight shot down the hall from him, looking down at the blade in his paw, he reversed his grip as the ringtail had done.

"Remember to breathe, it helps greatly." Sincato hinted, Jo focused straight at the pole, bringing his paw back as the raccoon had done, hesitating for a moment.

And then flung the blade forward, watching as it spun 180 degrees, allowing the tip to bury itself deep into the pole centered.

"Great job Jo!" The Dragon Warrior complemented his friend's successful first shot. Sincato gave a small smile and went to go retrieve the knife. Coming back he looked at the badger,

"Hmm, you appeared to be comfortable with my knives, did the blade feel heavy at all?" He inquired curiously, wanting an outside opinion of his hand forged tools. Jo glanced down at his paw and curled it before looking back up at Sincato. "Um no, it didn't seem very heavy, actually more balanced then I was expecting." Jo answered, unsure of the expectation the raccoon had for his answer. Sincato nodded and let his focus drift off for a sec before turning over to the giant panda. Stepping forward, "Master Po I was unable to do exact measurements for the handles of your own blades but I did my best to remember the comparison of your paws to mine, in the end I just hope these are large enough to suit your needs." He said handing Po his customized knives, Po laid one down and stared at the knife in his paw, still taking in it's detail. Wrapping a fist around the handle, he changed his grip several times before looking back at the ringtail.

"Buddy it's perfect! WHOCHA!" He sounded as he threw the blade, watching it do a full spin and impale itself into the pole just a few feet above Jo's mark. Po jumped up in happiness as he saw the knife sticking out of the pole. "AH! That felt great, did I do alright Sin?" He asked of his old friend, Sincato smiled and nodded. The three spent the next few hours experimenting with the raccoon's different styles of throwing, close combat quarters, long distance and from the bottom of the floor to the top of the ceiling. Jo followed closely as the raccoon then began climbing the beam, turning and motioning for the badger to set up a target on the floor. Watching curiously, the badger set up the post in the middle of the hall and saw Sincato climb up into the corner of the rafters then turning around and facing the bear the the badger. Setting his feet against the sides of the beams going out at an angle. he removed two knives and looked down at the target silently. Po and Jo waited quietly as the ringtail suddenly whipped his front paws in a cross motion down to the set up post, one blade sinking into the head of the post, the other hitting the midsection with enough force to knock it backwards. Po walked up to Sincato up in the rafters who began to come down, "Awesome man, here jump down I gotcha!" The ring tail looked back somewhat nervously before releasing the pole and falling backwards to the ground. Po stepped back one foot and caught him with ease, smiling as the raccoon caught his breath.

Po, "Haha I do believe that was a fine lesson my friend! Lets call it a day and visit my dad's shop hm?" He asked the two. Jo agreed, he was a bit sore from the training hall anyway, a bit of his mentor's soup sounded like a well timed treat at this point. Sincato motioned for the panda to lead the way and followed the two down the steps and into the valley.

With a swift push the doors to Mr. Ping's noodle shop were opened and the trio entered, looking for a place to sit. Po quickly spotted his dad in crowd and waved.

"Po! So nice to see you soon, if you wouldn't mind giving me a quick hand- WAAAA!" The goose called out as he tipped over with a large vat of noodles. Po zipped through the crowd and quickly up righted his father, helping him with several fast orders. Jo and Sincato went about grabbing a seat at the end of the bench next to Po's kitchen, waiting as the panda tossed several plates, bowls and entrees out to the hungry public. Getting everything settled down, the panda hugged the goose and brought him over to the badger and raccoon. Jo couldn't help but grin a bit as Po's "father" came by to say hello.

"Ah hello there Jo, how are things coming with my boy?" Jo smiled politely and shook his wing, "I'm doing well Mr. Ping, how are you?" The bird waved a wing in the air and rolled his eyes, "I am more busy then usual today, small celebration for the new family that's moved in, everyone in the village seems to be here to say hello." Jo nodded and looked around, it seemed as if the building was packed to the rooftops with villagers. Po took a seat at the bench next to Sincato and looked over his way, wanting to catch up a bit before the day was over. "So buddy what have you been up to lately, haven't gotten a chance to visit ya for some time now." The raccoon looked up from his plate, wiping a noodle from his muzzle, "Well um, mostly just working in the shop Hu's family set me up with by their house, keeping me pretty busy with requests from different villagers and all. Hu asked me to promise to keep walking her home from class since we met heh, that kid's alot to handle every now and again." He said with a gruff chuckle, dipping his spoon into the soup once more, his focus turned over to Jo sitting beside Po, he motioned over with a paw, "So what is you're story if you don't mind keeping me in the dark?" Jo looked up and cleared his throat, "well I'm-" Po ended up cutting him off, "He's my latest and most improved student in the jade Palace, came to one of our kung fu camps one day and never left haha!" Po laughed heartily, patting Jo on his shoulder. "No but seriously Sin, you had to be there for some of the feat's this guy's accomplished, with a title he's come into earning and so quickly too! I couldn't be prouder. The badger blushed slightly at Po's compliments, though he knew all he had done, each time it the panda spoke of it, Jo couldn't help but feel a great sense of pride in becoming what he had. Patting the dragon warrior's paw in thanks for the kind words, Jo smiled at Po and went back to his soup. The panda turned back to Sincato to see him picking something out of his teeth, "Heh sorry Sincato, my dad's been upping the use of spice leaves in his meals, they tend to get up in the gums!" Sincato shook his head and turned away quickly, pulling out the last of his greens from his canines and licked his lips.

The Trio finished their lunch and headed out after thanks and goodbyes on Po's father's part, Sincato turned toward the Shim's home while Jo and Po looked toward the jade palace. Sincato walked up to Po and held out his paw. "I enjoyed our time today Dragon Warrior, let me know when you have time to do it again." Po shook his paw and then pulled him in for a hug, the raccoon embracing the bear in return.

"Of course Sincato, feel free to bring Hu next time if you like as well!" Sincato smiled and then turned to the badger standing next to Po. Sincato at first hadn't really known what to make of this creature whom Po had taken in as one of his own, but as it seemed, he was almost like great friend for the panda to have and if Po accepted him, then he would as well. The raccoon held out his paw to Jo who took it and agreed, "Glad to have met you Jo, I'm thankful Po has someone to pass his learning onto. Stay safe and if you need something from my shop let me know and you can have it." He said, Jo's face brightened a bit at this and the badger shook the raccoon's paw, "I'll let you know, thanks and it was good to meet you Sincato, thanks for the lesson!" With that the three parted, turning their directions and heading out back to their respective homes. Just as the raccoon was walking toward his shop, his eyes picked up sight of a wolf tail quickly disappearing around the corner of a building. Sincato tilted his head and narrowed his eyes at the building before looking upward and noticing a figure on the rooftop.

"DRAGON WARRIOR!" Sincato yelled out to catch his attention, Po swiftly turned around and immediately looked to where the raccoon was pointing, his eyes grew wide.

"Sound the alarm! Wolves are in the valley!" He yelled to the villagers standing by. People began to run all around as more of the canines appeared from their hiding. Jo ran by Po's side as they quickly pursued the wolves that began breaking into people's homes, in a reflection Jo glimpsed at, he could see the furious five flying down toward the village from the dragon warrior began twisting and tossing wolves all around him, a head butt here, a swinging kick there, his attention was focused on Jo however.

"Jo! Follow Sincato, get to the Shim House now!"

Sincato made a break for the Shim's home, quickly wrenching the door open and slamming it shut behind him after checking that the badger had gotten in behind him. "Sincato? What's going on?" The mother rabbit asked as her ears picked up the village alarm coming from the center of the village. Hu ran up next to Sincato, "whats happening!" She demanded, tugging at his black robe. "Everyone into the guest bedroom now!" He ordered, Jo grabbed hold of the rabbit father's paw and ran with the raccoon and the two rabbits toward the room at the end of the hall. Gathering the rabbit family up in the corner, Sincato quickly blew out all the candles around to darken the room. Setting a paw on Jo's shoulder, he leaned over and whispered for them to keep quiet as possible.

Hu trembled and shivered, in the darkness she could not see anyone very well and it scared her a bit.

"Sin, Sincato where are you?"

A voice came from the other side of the room encased in darkness,

"I'm still here just be quiet okay? This will be over before you know it."

The badger turned to the young rabbit Hu and patted her shoulder, the bunny sniffled and leaned into Jo's side, trying to tuck herself behind him to hide. Sincato crouched down low and removed two of his blades and held them downward in an icepick form as he awaited anything to enter the room. For a moment the entire room was silent, only the sounds of the villagers screaming and pained groans from the wolves as they were viciously attacked by the furious five right beside the home.

Suddenly

The front door sounded as it was kicked in, everyone's ears pricked up to listen as the footsteps proceeded into the house, sounds of door knobs being turned and opened, then slammed shut. The family stayed perfectly still as the intruder came down the hall toward them, finally stopping at the door to their room. A breath was held as the knob began to turn, Sincato closed his eyes and awaited the sound of the door to creak open. Watching as the door opened, the wolf stood in the doorway, looking around, but due to the lack of light, couldn't see anything save for a bed and a nightstand that reflected of the light in the hallway. Just as he lowered his spear to proceed inside, Sincato grabbed his spear with one paw, using the other to quickly slice the wolf's ankle.

"AUUGHH!" The canine roared, smacking the raccoon off of him and grabbing his ankle as he fell forward. Jo yanked Hu out of the way as the spear dropped forward toward them, embedding itself into the wall behind them. Sincato jammed a knife into the dog's other leg to keep him from reaching anyone else, taking his other knife and bringing it down upon the wolf's armor, slashing at it madly. The wolf snarled and punched him in the side of the face, sending the ringtail across the room and smashing into the nightstand table. Sitting up and wrenching the knife from his leg and howling in pain from it, the wolf set it's eyes upon the family and badger who stood before them, keeping them safe. Jo took a stance, putting his right leg back and his left leg forward, tensing quickly as the wolf grabbed at the end of the spear, pulling it out of the wall. The badger, seeing an opportunity, grabbed the pole as Sincato had and sprung off his left foot to aim a high kick to the wolf's throat, knocking him back a few feet out of the doorway. Sincato got up as quickly as he could, rushing past Jo and sliding on his knees under the wolf, using one of his blades to slash into the dog's thigh, striking an artery and bringing the canine down. Leaping to his feet, the raccoon turned and in a pile drive motion, slammed the knife into the wolf's chest, killing him instantly. The dog's death howl had caused two more wolves to enter the home, this time through a side window. In a split decision, Sincato tossed Jo one of his knives as he ran at the first one, leaping up onto the dog's hip and then jumping up to it's shoulder where he quickly stabbed into the animal's spine, severing the spinal cord and dropping the canine, giving the raccoon the chance to quickly sever his throat with a quick tearing motion.

Jo faced the wolf before him one on one as he stood in front of the Shim Family who remained tucked into the corner. He hadn't actually planned on using a knife but then again noone had planned for this situation to happen. The wolf looked down at the badger with a menacing growl as he thrust at the boy with the sword tip of his spear, Jo's reflexes allowing him to quickly shove the spear away, having to duck as the enraged wolf then swung in each direction. The badger tried to keep his eyes on the wolf as he jumped and smacked the spear from himself, Sincato stood to intercede, but the wolf then brought the pole back violently, slamming into the ringtail's stomach, causing him to collapse.

It was in that single moment, Jo saw his chance.

Taking the knife by the blade and using the form he'd preformed earlier, the badger silently prayed before flinging the knife toward the wolf.

"AAUUGGRRGHH!" Cried out the bandit thief as he clutched his neck, only the handle protruding from the wolf's throat area. A burst of blood shot from the wound as he removed it from his neck, splashing onto the badger as the wolf lost his balance and slammed into the side of the wall.

Just as he attempted to regain his footing, Sincato roared and grabbed two knives from his vest, running at the wolf as Jo sprang forward landing a panda fist into the wolf's chest, knocking him down. The raccoon dropped to his knees and furiously stabbed the canine all over before chomping down onto his throat and tearing out its adam's apple. Sincato wrenched back his head and finished ripping the flesh from the dog's throat, shaking his head, feeling the blood raining down around him. The Shim parents had their eyes shut tightly as they clutched their daughter, shivering terribly from all the violence, Jo came up next to Sincato who was covered in a decent amount of blood on his robes and fur. Jo said nothing for a moment as the raccoon slowed his breathing and picked the canine's flesh from his teeth and spit it out. Sin looked at the badger, who stood with blood spray upon his head and chest looking at him, "you alright?" Sincato nodded, "yeah, you?" Jo gave a quick nod before watching as another wolf attempted to enter the home but was quickly smacked several yards back by Viper. Sincato and Jo stood by the family and waited until the last of the wolves had been taken down, though neither of them said it, the raccoon and the badger found themselves grinning as they watched Tigress, Po, Mantis, Crane and Viper in their prime form, beating each of the cowardice wolves to a pulp.

The attack was finally finished, the five regrouped, Po entered the house, "Jo? Sincato? You guys still okay?" The raccoon and badger came forward, Po's eyes widened, "Whoa! What happened?" Jo wiped his face with his arm to remove some of the blood. "um well, the wolves ended up in the house and Sincato and I.." In the middle of speaking the badger choked, he couldn't somehow say what he had done, Sincato laid a paw on his shoulder, "Don't worry I got it, Um the wolves got in and I kinda um...uh..." Po held up a paw to stop him, "Is the Shim family alright?" Both nodded. Po dropped his paw, "really that's all you need to say, you sure you two are fine?" Both looked at each other for a sec and turned back to Po and nodded. Po sighed and wiped his brow, " Alright well Jo, you'll probably want to get cleaned up, the village will have a meeting later to assess the damage so for now maybe take a bath and I'll catch up with you later." Jo agreed, a steamy bath seemed as perfect as it could be right now. Bowing to Sincato and Po, the badger began his journey back up the stairs to the jade palace. Po took one last look at Sincato, a mixture of uncertainty and in decision on his face, Sincato looked up at him before speaking, "Hey in all honesty if there had been an easier way I would've taken it." This earned a small chuckle out of the dragon warrior, " I know Sincato, this just brings back memories that's all." The raccoon rubbed the back of his neck, "yeah...yeah it does, um if it's alright with you I'm gonna go get cleaned up and um drag the bodies out of the house..." The dragon warrior sighed and just stepped forward into the house past the raccoon and knelt down before the first dead dog, covering it with a blanket, the panda scooped up the body and brought it outside and set it on the ground. He looked over at the five, "Uh Tigress could you give me a hand?" He asked, the feline took one look at Sincato before stepping forward and following Po to the back room where the other two bodies laid. After carting out all of them, the palace assistant pigs and geese flopped the bodies into a covered cart and wheeled them off. Sincato came up to the Shim family and kneel ed next to them, "it's safe now, you're alright." He said, The mother pulled her head back and her eyes widened at the raccoon's appearance, "oh dear...um here you get out of those robes and get cleaned up and we'll take care of everything else alright Sin?" The mother proposed. Without another word the raccoon marched off to the bathroom and shed his clothes as he ran a bath for himself, soon dipping into the soothing water that became a pinkish red as he sank down underneath the water. Remaining under for a second, he ran his paws over his face and head, scrubbing away the blood from his fur before coming up.

To the Shim family's thankfulness, a group of servants had been sent to remove the bloodstains and clean up any and all damage done in the attack courtesy of the dragon warrior. Sincato came to the table where they all sat together and ate as one family, mostly in silence, none wishing to bring up what had just happened just moments ago. After the meal, the parents set up a fire in their living room and sat together, the raccoon taking a seat in a rocking chair in the corner. As he sat back watching the flames jump and sway in every direction, Hu hopped from their parent's lap and came over to Sincato's side, motioning for him to pick her up. The raccoon smiled softly and scooped up the bunny, placing her in his lap as he rocked gently back, letting her get snuggled in comfortably. Within a few minutes of silence, the young rabbit looked up to the raccoon's face who stared down at her and asked a question she felt she had to.

"Sincato?" He looked into her eyes to encourage her to go on,

"Why...did you kill all those wolves?" Her mother sat up at the question, Sincato shook his head at her and raised a paw for the rabbit to not worry. Looking back down at Hu, the ringtail bit his lip slightly before answering. "Well..I...well to be honest Hu I got scared." His response made the young rabbit tilt her head,

"Whaddya mean you got scared?" Sincato cleared his throat and looked to the mother and father for permission to tell their daughter something, they nodded and he looked back down at the rabbit.

"Well, back in my village, I had a family of my own, just like you, your mother and father, I had a son and a wife. One day some bad people...they-" The raccoon paused to swallow the lump building in his throat, "One day they took them away from me...forever." Taking a deep breath he kept going, "I wanted to protect them and I wasn't able to, so when I saw the wolves come in, it scared me to think of losing you and your family to them as I lost my own family so I *gulp* did what I felt I had to." Hu kept her focus on him as she rested her head on his chest, wanting to ask another question, Sincato raised a white eyebrow above his black eye mask.

"Do I remind you of your son?" Sincato bit his lip again and felt it tremble, closing his eyes he pulled the rabbit in close to him, resting his head atop of her's. The mother and father watched as a single tear dropped from the raccoon's closed eye and slid down his cheek as he held their daughter in protective hug, Hu wrapping her tiny arms around the ring tail's belly, nuzzling her face into his robes. Eventually leaning back from the hug, Sincato smiled and ran a paw over the bunny's ears, gazing into her bright brown eyes.

"My son would've like you a lot." He said, continuing to rock the child back and forth, both parents lay back on the couch, holding each others paw, the mother rested her head against her husband's shoulder, listening to the fire crackle. Soon there was a knock at the door, everyone turned their heads to the door on the opposite side of the room, the mother getting up to see who it was. As she opened the door, the mother rabbit turned and looked to Sincato, motioning with her paw to have him come to the door. Sincato furled his brow, unsure who was on the other side of the door. Coming up to the mother rabbit, the raccoon saw none other then Jo, the badger from the jade palace standing before him.

"h-hi. Um can- can I talk to you for a sec?" he asked looking at the raccoon, Sincato tilted his head slightly before turning to the young daughter and her parents, "Yes sure, um I'll be back in a few okay?" He said to the mother who gave a small nod. Closing the door behind them, the raccoon followed the badger who was leading the way out from the house.

After reaching a secluded section of the village where several trees stood and a single stone bench was provided to enjoy the trees when in bloom, the badger sat down on the bench as the raccoon stood with his arms crossed, feeling the cool breeze a bit. "What did you want to talk about?" Sincato asked even though he had an bit of an idea already, the badger looked up to him and sighed. "I don't know how to deal with this, with what happened today and nor do I know how to tell Po about it. I feel like I did something wrong but at the same time it was right but I was raised to believe it isn't right by any means." He looked to the raccoon who stared down at him. "I can't really imagine what Po was thinking when he saw me, covered practically in-"

"Well he saw both of us, not to top you or anything but Im sure I was a bit more drenched in the stuff then you were." Sincato said, attempting to ease the boy's nerves a tad, he could feel the worry building in him already.

"Yeah...of course you did chomp into that one guy that was on the floor...any reason you um needed to do that" He said quietly, Sincato looked down to the side for a moment, he hadn't forgotten by any means. There were a million things racing through his head at that time and in all honestly, he'd just wanted to ensure the death of the intruder. "Well, I wanted to be...sure." Sincato replied uneasily, The badger then asked a new question, one he hadn't seen coming, "How did Po act when you told him about you're uh history." Sincato's eyes quickly narrowed by instinct, causing the badger to lean back a bit by the glare he received by the raccoon.

"He told you?" The raccoon asked, Jo nodded slowly, Sincato sighed and closed his eyes to relax himself. "I shouldn't be mad, he had every right to let you know about me. When he first heard about what I did, I could tell he was a very uncomfortable at first, even took a step or two back from me. Though after he'd given it a small amount of time, that panda brushed it away and set out to help me, and he did." Jo sat back a bit, resting his paws on his lap as he took this in, of course it was a exaggeration to say that the dragon warrior would be truly disappointed in Jo for protecting a family against the bad guys, but he wondered how much would it would change in how Po looked at him?

Sincato looked off to the distance as he rubbed his paws together, somewhat hoping he could get back inside the warm house and doze off. As he looked back down at the badger, just by staring into the boy's eyes he could see alot was still on his mind. "You're somewhat new to killing, aren't you?" The badger met his gaze and nodded, "How do you find it so easy to do what you did today? I just want to know..." Jo asked, the raccoon sat down next to him and stared down at the grass, "I, guess certain people are just worth more to me then others. The Shim's, they're my chance to rebuild myself from the ground up, I don't wish to lose them too." Both sat silent on the bench for a moment, Jo finally getting to his feet and stretched, "I should be getting back to the palace, its late but, hey thanks for talking with me, I appreciate it." Sincato stood up and extended his paw, "Anytime." The badger shook his paw and then turned and left, leaving Sincato in the park alone, the raccoon stood and listened to the soft breeze gliding past him, looking up to the stars above that gleamed down at him. Looking around the raccoon left the park and headed for home, thoughts of a comfy bed and rest sounded wonderful at that moment.

Slipping inside the house quietly, he noticed the family had already gone to bed for the evening, he looked around the silent house, visions soon reappearing in his mind of what had taken place that day. He gave the servants credit, you'd never imagine three wolves died in this home, let alone at the paws of a raccoon and a badger. He sat back in the rocking chair, looking over at the soft flames of the fireplace still flickering in weak strength as their consumption of wood began to take it's toll. Gently rocking the chair slowly, Sincato let out a deep sigh at his inner thoughts.

Had it been wise to demonstrate such brutality to the boy as he'd done? While it had been a life or death situation, the raccoon could still understand he'd gone over the top with his actions, but then again he'd also felt as though that hadn't been the first time that boy had seen or even drawn blood from another. Po seemed to only beam with respect for the badger and because of that Sin could not judge him, but he did wish to learn more of Jo and his abilities.

Tired and sore from everything the day had thrown at him, the raccoon stood from the chair and headed off to his room. Climbing into the warm soft bed, he got under the covers and rested against the soft pillow behind him. Knowing the family he cared for was safe and sound, the ring tail closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.

* * *

A/N, Hey thanks for reading, I've wanted to put this little piece together for a while now and I'm just glad I finally got to it, hope you enjoyed it!


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